Billionaire space tourist planning private mission with SpaceX to fix Hubble telescope

‘Reboosting Hubble into higher, more stable orbit could add multiple years of operations to its life’

Billionaire Jared Isaacman, one of the space tourists who launched on his own SpaceX flight last year, has announced plans with the Elon Musk-founded company to launch a private mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope.

SpaceX and Nasa announced in a last-minute press conference on Thursday that they are conducting a study to assess whether or not such a mission is possible.

The mission would involve the private human spaceflight startup Polaris Program funded by Mr Isaacman, who had paid an undisclosed amount for a three-day spaceflight for himself and three others last year.

Nasa noted in a tweet on Thursday that the unfunded study, which would not be sponsored by the American space agency, will particularly assess if a commercial mission to boost Hubble’s orbit and extend its operations would be feasible.

“There are no plans for NASA to conduct or fund a servicing mission or compete this opportunity; the study is designed to help the agency understand the commercial possibilities,” the space agency noted in a statement.

In the proposed study, which could take up to six months to complete, the agency hopes to collect data from both Hubble and the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft to help determine if it would be possible to “safely rendezvous, dock, and move the telescope into a more stable orbit.”

Nasa has been contemplating safely de-orbiting or disposing of Hubble which has been operating since 1990, capturing stunning images of the cosmos from about 335 miles above Earth in an orbit that is slowly decaying over time.

With the telescope currently about 30km closer to Earth than it was in 2009, the agency says “reboosting” Hubble into a higher, more stable orbit could add several years of operations to its life.

“As our fleet grows, we want to explore a wide range of opportunities to support the most robust science missions possible. This feasibility study is the first step in understanding how existing commercial space abilities can bring new innovative approaches,” Nasa associate administrator Thomas Zurbuchen said.

“Hopefully, this study leads us on path to enhance the capabilities and extend the life of the greatest exploration asset of all time,” Mr Isaacman tweeted.

While the proposed study will serve as a test model, the mission concept could be applicable to other spacecraft in near-Earth orbit, Nasa said.

“SpaceX and the Polaris Program want to expand the boundaries of current technology and explore how commercial partnerships can creatively solve challenging, complex problems,” Jessica Jensen, vice president of customer operations & integration at SpaceX, said in a statement.

“Missions such as servicing Hubble would help us expand space capabilities to ultimately help all of us achieve our goals of becoming a space-faring, multiplanetary civilization,” she added.